The Wine Blokes

Peeralilla is aboriginal for beautiful which aptly describes the Peeralilla Hill vineyards nestled in the Hindmarsh Valley of the Southern Fleurieu, South Australia. The majestic Wedge Tail eagles constantly spiral off the ‘Hill’ creating an ambience in which to live, grow, produce and enjoy fine wine. This wine is produced on one of the oldest properties in the State and appropriately, by the Smart family who are now sixth generation farmers.

Alcohol: 14.9%

Blokes Notes: Here at The Wine Blokes we love to have access to some new, relatively unknown producers, and the beauty of living in Australia means the boom in small producers and labels over the last 10 years means we have access to literally 1000’s of wines, some brilliant, some rather tiresome.  Of late we’ve been tasting plenty of Pinot Gris, and like the boom in Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and Australia 5 or so years ago, there are now a plethora of Pinot Gris, and unltimately you find wines that are unashameably on the band wagon just for the sake of being on the band wagon, and others that are in it for the purest of intentions.

The Peeralilla Hill Pinot Gris is pretty good and quite well made. It got a unique palate of stewed fruits and a lovely soft structure.  If anything, the softness is a bit overdone, and does tend to move in the realm of buttery oilyness (presumably from a high-ish pH and alcohol), but not to the detriment of the full flavours. I would like to see Pinot Gris (as opposd to Pinot Grigio) with a little more refinement, but this is certainly a style that is in favour at the moment. Still, a pretty good example of what the Fleurieu Penisula can do with Pinot Gris.

Price $21.50

You can order online from the Peeralilla website.